April18, 2018

Washington, D.C. – House Armed Services Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) released the following statement about the discussion drafts on reforming the Defense Department that were released this week:

“There were two discussion drafts released by Chairman Thornberry this week. On the first, the Comprehensive Pentagon Bureaucracy Reform and Reduction Act, in its current form I have serious concerns about the impact it would have on the mission of the Department of Defense. It appears this proposal could do serious damage to DOD’s information infrastructure, testing ranges, and community support, as well as the basic DOD functions in the National Capital Region by eliminating critical agencies in one stroke. Those are important functions that I don’t think we should discard if we haven’t done careful study and analysis. It’s also important that we consider the impact on our men and women in uniforms’ ability to do their jobs and their quality of life, as well as on thousands of jobs across the country. I will continue to work with Chairman Thornberry to address these concerns.